Posts tagged ‘immune repertoires’

Over the last few years we’ve heard a lot about the evaluation of predictive biomarkers for checkpoint inhibitors, in particular the value of using PD-L1, whether on immune or tumour cells, as a way of separating responders and non-responders to therapy with anti-PD1 or anti-PDL1 blockers. The results to date have been mixed, with some KOLs concluding that smoking history or number of mutations was more useful in lung cancer and others believing that their assay has better utility.

Some cynical observers I’ve come across have even asserted that companies don’t want to see biomarkers emerge because that then limits their opportunity for patients being treated. Ouch! I don’t believe this to be true, it’s highly complex science and there is much about the healthy immune system that we still don’t know, never mind under more complex situations such as cancer. This is an ever-evolving field about which we still have much learn.

Eventually, we may see further refinement of these approaches, at least in some tumour types and I’m particularly looking forward to hearing more about those advances at ASCO and ASH later this year when the clinical and translational work is more mature.

Over the next week or two, will be be highlighting and explaining some of the emerging trends in more detail.

On the important topic of biomarkers, one new approach particularly caught my eye in the abstracts that were released yesterday is worthy of further discussion since it could have important implications to future clinical approaches.

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